Drug Enforcement Administration

Nine Methamphetamine Traffickers Sentenced To Federal Prison

STATESVILLE, N.C. - Nine methamphetamine traffickers have been sentenced over a two-day period to prison terms ranging from one to 17.5 years, as a result of two related Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task (OCDETF) investigations, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

U.S. Attorney Rose is joined in making today’s announcement by Daniel R. Salter, the Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement (DEA), which oversees the Charlotte District Office and Nick Annan, Special Agent in Charge of ICE/Homeland Security (HSI) in Atlanta and the Carolinas; Caldwell County Sheriff Alan C. Jones; Lenoir Police Chief Scott Brown; Catawba County Sheriff Coy Reid; and Hickory Police Chief Tom R. Adkins.

The following defendants were sentenced on Monday, November 30, 2015:

· Justo Manuel Gonzalez, 29, of Newton, N.C. was sentenced to 210 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised (5:14-cr-59).

· Christopher Waylon Joyner, 31, of Sparta, N.C., was sentenced to 131 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised (5:15-cr-69).

· Christopher Everett Triplett, 35, of Hudson, N.C. was sentenced to 75 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised (5:14-cr-50).

· Marixa Dawn Hart, 27, of Warrensville, N.C., was sentenced to 31 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised (5:15-cr-7).

· Paul Lewis King, Jr., 71, of North Wilkesboro, N.C. was sentenced to nine months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, nine of which in home (5:15-cr-34).

The following defendants were sentenced on Tuesday, December 1, 2015:

· Anthony Lee Day, 40, of Crumpler, N.C., was sentenced to 130 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised (5:15-cr-5). · Brian Len Ledford, 39, of Newton, N.C. was sentenced to 78 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised (5:15-cr-14).

· Miguel Angel Cerda-Rodriguez, 29, of Conover, N.C. was sentenced to 46 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised (5:14-cr-77).

· Rene Antonio Garcia, 54, of Hickory, N.C. was sentenced to time (approximately one year) followed by four years of supervised (5:14-cr-82). The two OCDETF investigations, codenamed “Dixie Crystal” and “Lay Low,” are being led by HSI and DEA, respectively, with the assistance of the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, Lenoir Police Department, Catawba County Sheriff’s Office, and Hickory Police Department, and law enforcement agencies throughout North Carolina and Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee.

According to court documents, to date, more than 80 individuals have been convicted as a result of the two related investigations. Court records show that the drug trafficking organizations involved have trafficked methamphetamine worth millions of dollars. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized more than 10 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, $100,000 in U.S. currency and other assets, and numerous firearms.

OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Kaufman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is in charge of the prosecution.